What exactly is it that you're hoping to find out with your prototype?

I think the larp idea would be the best way to get a sense of the game's fun level.

It's not a paper prototype but you could try programming a very basic simulation with no track to travel on or any real graphics. Just text output for current speed and the appearance of random obstacles. This might help give you a sense of the pacing for the game or whether the frequency of obsticals is appropriate.

Sounds like you are trying to duplicate the old Car Wars box set to test things.

Hi Guys,

Thanks very much for getting back to me, this has been really useful.

I'm not entirely sure what you want to test with this. Is it the frequency of obstacles?

What exactly is it that you're hoping to find out with your prototype?

Because I'm a newbie, I stupidly didn't really stop to ask myself "What am I prototyping for?". But upon thinking about it I'm really trying to measure the immediate fun factor.

I'm hoping to find that players would enjoy this kind of wacky racing/resource management/survival dynamic, which is why I really responded to the idea of making a physical obstacle course, giving my friends some rules to follow and calling out obstacles that they must deal with. It should simulate the mechanics well enough for me to get an idea on if the dynamic of the game is immediately fun and how I could improve it.

Further testing

As many of you have rightly said, there is a whole plethora of games out there that will already embody a lot of the driving/racing mechanics I would want in my game. I didn't think about adapting those games by creating mods or creating really, really simple simulations in Unity/Unreal etc. I guess I was so focused on being as 'low-tech' and low-cost with my prototyping as possible. After I gauge if the general dynamic of the game would be fun and weeded out any critical early 'bugs' from that, this definitely sounds like the next logical step in prototyping the 'disaster' mechanics in a virtual environment etc. I don't know why I didn't think of these things myself, it's so obvious! Ha ha.

rolling dice to move however many grid squares; wherever you land you roll again to see if a randomised disaster occurs.

A common problem with board games, the fix is to use more dice and average the result.

To measure speed I could add a modifier, such as if they're going an 'above average speed' they get a +1 to the amount of grid squares they cover but also a +1 to the chance of a disaster happening.

I would advice the danger increased exponential. Fast: +1 Speed +2 Danger, Faster: +2 Speed +4 Danger, Fastest +3 Speed +8 Danger.

Thanks for this great advice. I might keep the ideas I came up with the game so far and make a board game version too so I can compare the two later. Could be fun! Ha ha.

Thanks a lot guys. Getting your head into the game design/testing mind set is surprisingly intimidating but it's becoming clearer :).

Hi Guys,

Thanks very much for getting back to me, this has been really useful.

I'm not entirely sure what you want to test with this. Is it the frequency of obstacles?

What exactly is it that you're hoping to find out with your prototype?

Because I'm a newbie, I stupidly didn't really stop to ask myself "What am I prototyping for?". But upon thinking about it I'm really trying to measure the immediate fun factor.

Hey you did get the most important part of game design down: enthousiasm! :D The rest you get with experience.

To figure out whether it's any fun you'll really have to prototype with an existing game or an editor like unity, because whether a real-time random obstacle course is fun will be heavily dependent on how fast the trucks are, how responsive they feel and the timing of the obstacles. Nothing on a board or in the garden will give you an accurate impression of that.

Good luck with the prototype!

players race along a dangerous road in trucks to deliver their cargo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wages_of_Fear :)

Make this instead of race.

I guess the game can track when a player leaves and enter a new square in the grid and, after so many, roll to see if a disaster occurs. However, I don't think my current idea would really reflect the real time game experience/dynamics I'm trying to create in the video game. Am I looking at this the wrong way?

Yes, you are looking at this the wrong way. You can't test arcade on paper.

Alternative: make a boardgame instead?

Thanks for the supportive worlds DieselRey! I'm hoping that experience comes quickly! Ha ha.

I think this idea (as it is) will most likely come out as a board game, but as I said I'm going to try it from both angles! Acharis, that movie you linked holds some cool ideas for a game, I'm a bit too in love with my theme though! ha ha :).